Report 259
Report #259 Skillset: Aquamancy Skill: Needlerain Org: Aquamancers Status: Rejected Sept 2009 Furies' Decision: We do not find this to be necessary. Problem: Currently, aquamancer demesnes are the least hindering in movement out of the four types. Geomancers are able to slow enemy movement through rubble/stonewalls and both druidic guilds can raise briarwalls, all of which bypass protection scroll and any additional common defenses. However, aquamancer demesnes allow enemies free movement if they are waterwalking and have a protection scroll active. Solution #1: Remove icefloe as an effect that bypasses protection scroll and replace it with needlerain. This would allow aquamancers a chance to strip waterwalking. Player Comments: ---on 9/13 @ 21:50 writes: Doesn't Needlerain strip Levitate, Waterwalk, etc all at once? Not to mention, Briarwalls are gotten rid of by Ignite, so that doesn't compare really to the Rubble effect that Geomancers have. Not to mention compare to Stonewalls. Not to mention, you have Phantasms which employs the use of an ability similar to Briarwalls (which cannot be ignited). You also have Whirlpool and Currents, which are both fairly strong in the hindering department. ---on 9/14 @ 14:15 writes: I think that aquamancers could use a little more movement hindering but I worry that prolonged fights (much less likely with recent changes) could drain elemental enchantments from the forests for wich they have no easy access to ---on 9/14 @ 19:35 writes: It doesn't strip it all at once. I am not sure that is entirely true because even those with waterwalk must fight against currents and whirlpool. I remember fighting aquamancers before where the only hope to outlast ego drain (at least as a midbie) was to step into a new room to sip and this was almost always stopped by the fact you would have to put up waterwalk all over again or spam movement till you got past the whirlpool, and then got past the currents trying to bring you back towards the whirlpool. Also, I don't think the currents or whirlpool affect the aquamancer while I think the rubble slows the Geomancer just the same. ---on 9/14 @ 19:49 writes: Needlerain strips 1 defense each time it ticks, not all at once. Phantomwalls can be removed with dispel illusion (that any mages or illusionist bards have) or critique (that everyone can get), also phantomwalls fall after a very limited number of hits, unlike briarwalls. Plus, briarwalls can be put up as a demesne effect on multiple random exits at a time while phantomwalls have to be placed on every exit individually. Currents also does not hit with protection scroll up. ---on 9/15 @ 00:09 writes: I agree with Nienla, needlerain strips a lot more than waterwalk, even including some elementalism defs like elementshield. What if we made it an effect of tsunami so that all waterwalking becomes impossible (the effects go "out of phase") in the tempestuous waters of the aqua demesne for anyone except the aquamancer himself? ---on 9/15 @ 00:10 writes: Btw, little known fact. Geomancer rubble only falls if there's a person standing in the room, which is checked on a 10 second tick. It aint just demesnewide rubble, much to my dismay as I have been rushed in my demesne from several rooms away on numerous occasions. ---on 9/15 @ 00:36 writes: Cubes are readily accessible to all (and can be carried on one's person) so this change would not drain already existent elemental enchants. Also, we did further testing: Currents is entirely stopped by protection scroll ---on 9/15 @ 00:37 writes: Cubes are readily accessible to all (and can be carried on one's person) so this change would not drain already existent elemental enchants. Also, we did further testing: Currents is entirely stopped by protection scroll -- so even if waterwalk is stripped it won't do anything if protection is up. Whirlpool isn't stopped by either waterwalking or protection scroll, so this change doesn't affect how that works (and, whirlpool only works for the aquamancer standing in his own demesne -- it can't be stacked at all.) So pretty much the only effect you'd have for stripping waterwalk in this situation would be the need to either put up waterwalk to move or the need to swim to locations. ---on 9/15 @ 03:20 writes: Thought that was the point: needing to swim to move locations ---on 9/16 @ 00:09 writes: As Ceren noted, the issue is mostly in the needing to swim from room to room. Which an Aquamancer can easily time you moving in order to paralyse or keep you still. I really don't think Needlerain needs to be one of the afflictions that Protection scroll does not protect you with. As earlier noted, Communes do not have ready access to Elemental Enchants and it should not be expected of everyone to carry a cube (a 20,000 gold investment) just to stop a single ability from hindering them repeatedly. ---on 9/18 @ 03:07 writes: I agree with Ceren's comments in general. Making needlerain hit through protection seems a bit much, since needlerain can do so much more. I know the administration isn't fond of replicating skills, but isn't there some sort of a new skill that can be added to Aquamancy to roughly replicate rubble/stonewalls/briarwalls? That seems like a safer solution in terms of maintaining balance... ---on 9/19 @ 03:48 writes: It's not needed, Zalandrus. It was noted already that they have abilities similar to that already. ---on 9/19 @ 21:17 writes: I disagree with this. Ceren and Nienla made great points. On top of all that, rubble, briarwalls will also hit allies. Aqua allies won't be required to swim. Whirlpool remains one of the greater movement hinder skills available. Briar walls also doesn't "hinder movement". It neither slows you down from leaving or prevents you from it. Nor does it affect where your intended destination lies. Therefore only Hartstone Druids have movement hindering effects (pathtwist) for a power cost. If you want to hinder movement, you are free to raise icewalls at will being a mage.